AAP Newswire
03/06/2007
MELBOURNE, June 3 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard is still dragging his heels on climate change, the Victorian government says. Mr Howard today announced that Australia would have a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme running by 2012, with an emissions reduction target to be set next year.
But Victorian Deputy Premier John Thwaites said Mr Howard was still delaying real action on tackling global warming. "John Howard has spent the last few years slamming the states for proposing an emissions trading scheme," he said. "Now John Howard has admitted he's wrong, but he's still proposing further delays on real action on climate change." Mr Thwaites said monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions needed to start immediately.
He said the states had now overruled the Howard government by introducing a scheme requiring big greenhouse gas emitters to report on their emissions from July 1, 2008. "This is a major step forward because it means for the first time we'll be able to properly monitor and manage greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
"John Howard tried to stop the states doing this yesterday but the states have gone ahead because we know that we've got to act and we have got to act now on climate change." Mr Thwaites said the scheme would be the first step in the establishment of an emissions trading scheme, which he believed could be in place by 2010.
Meanwhile, Victoria would press ahead with its clean energy schemes despite the Howard government's opposition, he said. "The Howard government is telling the states that they should abolish their schemes that are promoting wind energy and solar energy and yet at the same time he wants to promote nuclear energy," Mr Thwaites said. "(But) we will oppose the Howard government's attempts to wipe out these clean energy schemes and we will maintain those schemes."
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